Tips to Maintain Good Posture

Posture is a window into the spine. One of the most important tools I use right away with patients is observing their posture.  Just from observing posture I can tell signs and symptoms that a patient might be experiencing. I can tell their energy patterns and if they are often fatigued. Taking age into account I can even get a sense of what their X-Rays might reveal. Our posture says a great deal about us, most importantly how healthy we are and what direction our health is heading. Here are some helpful tips to maintain good posture.

Stop Looking at your phone:

This technology is literally killing us.  It is not realistic that we are going to stop using our phones. However, it is imperative to start holding your phone up. Strengthen your arms and shoulders and just hold the phone up.  The human head weighs on average 10-12 lbs. Did you know that for every inch of forward head posture you head effectively increases 10 lbs in weight? That means that looking down at your phone can sometimes increase the weight of your head to 50lbs. This can lead to long lasting problems.

Use a Variable Workstation:

Same concept here. Forward posture can lead to Tech Neck Syndrome.  Best to change positions often at work. If you can’t do a variable workstation, make sure to set a timer and get up for just a few minutes every thirty minutes.

Stretch it out:

Flexibility is key! When our muscles get tight, that leads to compression.  Compression leads to degenerative arthritis of the spine. As a society, we like to exercise but we don’t like to spend the time necessary to stretch. Too much exercise without enough stretching will only enhance poor posture.  Search our website and social media channels. We often share great tips on how to stretch and promote good posture.

Properly Aligned Sleep:

We spend ⅓ of our life sleeping.  This time sleeping sets the stage for our waking hours.  Make sure to use a properly ergonomic pillow. Also make sure your bed is supportive of your spine. The mattress should be medium firm for most. Not hard as a rock but firm and supportive.

Postural Strengthening Exercises:

Strengthening and flexibility go hand in hand.  Making sure to strengthen the postural muscles is critical to proper posture.  A little effort goes a long way here. We use a company called WebExercises to send each and everyone of our patients a unique and customized exercise program.  We monitor our patients and scales these accordingly over time.

Get Under Regular Chiropractic Care:

If you want to be healthy, you need to have a healthy nerve system. Since the nerve system comes out of the spine at each level, you need to have a healthy spine.  Proper posture is vital to a healthy spine. Chiropractic care can help with proper posture regardless of symptoms, in fact we are posture experts. Chiropractors are the only professionals trained to detect and correct subluxations of the spine. Subluxations are misalignments that ultimately lead to poor posture.  

If you, a family member, friend or co-worker is suffering from poor posture, contact our office immediately.  Poor posture does not spontaneously correct itself and it can lead to serious health issues.